Saturday, May 16, 2009

Revisited

Bergen again. Spring is still here, and the weather has been fine the last few days. Tomorrow is the national day, and here in Bergen everybody is ready for the parades and games. The weather forecast is also excellent, so it looks like it will be a nice day.

Right now Naboen can offer seven beers from draught.

It is time to revisit some of the bars I have been to here in Bergen. First off is Naboen. Compared to January, there has been a change in draught beers. These days there is no Christmas beer, but Naboen's Bayer is joined by Aass lager, Old Speckeled Hen and two draught beers from Nøgne Ø. Right now they sell Nøgne Ø's Blond and Imperial Stout, and that means that there are now two bars in Bergen selling beers from the Arendal cult brewery.

Imperial Stout from Nøgne Ø is a strong beer at 9 % alcohol. At Naboen it is served in 0.35 litre glasses and costs 69 NOK. In the glass this is a black beer with a little, nearly tannish head. There is as good as no carbonation. The Imperial Stout tastes bitter with a lot of coffee notes. This is a nice beer, but I would prefer Naboen's Bayer at my next visit. If Nøgne Ø's Blond still is available then, I will also check out that beer.

A good selection in beers is available at Henrik.

Around the block from Naboen, Henrik is found. There was no Budweiser Budvar this time around, but Henrik has a lot of other beers on offer from both tap, bottles and cans. As always there is draughted Nøgne Ø, and right now they still sell the Easter beer God Påske.

I was ready for something new and ended up with Harviestoun's Schiehallion lager beer from Scotland. The label says that this is a crisp, dry and airy beer, and I can confirm that. Schiehallion is nearly amber in colour with some cloudyness. It is a very drinkable beer with notes of citrus. There is also a hoppyness to it, and in all this is a very enjoyable lager beer with a different twist. I will gladly seek Schiehallion out later, but then I hope that it will be cheaper than 94 NOK for a half litre bottle.